New NCHC postseason tournament format

[nodakvindy]

I'm not crazy about the three week playoff.  That potentially leaves a lengthy break and chance to be rusty if you have a first round upset.  It also feels like they just took what everyone else is doing.  I guess it depends on what the purpose of the conference tourney is, generate money, get more teams into the NCAAs, etc.

I would have liked to see a more innovative format, that really awards regular season excellence.  I'd propose a straight single elimination tourney, but with a couple of modifications.

First week,  3 seed and 4 seed host.    1 and 2 seeds get bye to Semifinals.

3 seed site (seeds 3, 6 and 7)

Day 1 -  6 vs 7  Day 2 - 3 vs 6-7 winner to advance to semifinals

4 seed site (seeds 4,5,8,9)

Day 1 - 4 vs 9, 5 vs 8   Day 2 - Winners from day 1, winner advances to semifinals

Week 2 - 1 seed hosts

Friday -  1 seed vs lowest remaining, 2 seed vs highest remaining,  Saturday - Championship

This format provides benefits for regular season performance

1 seed - hosts final four and receives off week and bye to semis

2 seed - receives off week and bye to semis

3 seed - hosts and only needs 1 win to make semifinal

4 seed - hosts games to reach semifinals

5-9 seeds -a chip and chance baby!

This also gives the host school 2 weeks to prepare for the finals and still keeps a somewhat tournament vibe.  It would also allow a TV partner to schedule all the games at different times over the 2 weekends, with the first round games at the 4 seed being Thursday and Friday and the games at the 3 seed being Friday and Saturday.

 

[Dustin]

11 minutes ago, nodakvindy said:

I'm not crazy about the three week playoff.  That potentially leaves a lengthy break and chance to be rusty if you have a first round upset.  It also feels like they just took what everyone else is doing.  I guess it depends on what the purpose of the conference tourney is, generate money, get more teams into the NCAAs, etc.

I would have liked to see a more innovative format, that really awards regular season excellence.  I'd propose a straight single elimination tourney, but with a couple of modifications.

First week,  3 seed and 4 seed host.    1 and 2 seeds get bye to Semifinals.

3 seed site (seeds 3, 6 and 7)

Day 1 -  6 vs 7  Day 2 - 3 vs 6-7 winner to advance to semifinals

4 seed site (seeds 4,5,8,9)

Day 1 - 4 vs 9, 5 vs 8   Day 2 - Winners from day 1, winner advances to semifinals

Week 2 - 1 seed hosts

Friday -  1 seed vs lowest remaining, 2 seed vs highest remaining,  Saturday - Championship

This format provides benefits for regular season performance

1 seed - hosts final four and receives off week and bye to semis

2 seed - receives off week and bye week

3 seed - hosts and only needs 1 win to make semifinal

4 seed - hosts games to reach semifinals

This also gives the host school 2 weeks to prepare for the finals and still keeps a somewhat tournament vibe.  It would also allow a TV partner to schedule all the games at different times over the 2 weekends, with the first round games at the 4 seed being Thursday and Friday and the games at the 3 seed being Friday and Saturday.

 

Sounds awesome to me.

[MafiaMan]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:02 PM, gfhockey said:

So what happens if the finals end up staying in a place like Miami or for example, Western Michigan where those stadiums can’t see more than 4000 people we are going to lose quite a bit of money because of this decision

Good for Miami or WMU if they host a conference title game in front of a packed house of fans…as opposed to them playing in front of 100 family members and girlfriends at the X. 

The energy difference between last spring’s Michigan vs Minnesota and Colorado College vs St Cloud State games spoke volumes.  

It’s just a shame we have 2 more years of Frozen Faceoffs. 

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, MafiaMan said:

Good for Miami or WMU if they host a conference title game in front of a packed house of fans…as opposed to them playing in front of 100 family members and girlfriends at the X. 

The energy difference between last spring’s Michigan vs Minnesota and Colorado College vs St Cloud State games spoke volumes.  

It’s just a shame we have 2 more years of Frozen Faceoffs. 

I personally enjoyed my kid getting food poisoning at Xcel and throwing up all the way home.  I don't know if that was more fun or finding a food place that was actually open at the X....that was fun too...

[MafiaMan]

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I personally enjoyed my kid getting food poisoning at Xcel and throwing up all the way home.  I don't know if that was more fun or finding a food place that was actually open at the X....that was fun too...

The last NCHC Frozen Faceoff will be in 2025, however, MY last Frozen Faceoff was 2023.  

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Schloss talking on his podcast about changing the NCHC playoffs to home arenas as a catalyst to potentially getting NCAAs at home sites has me excited. Also, imagine the atmosphere at the REA having Denver, Duluth etc coming to town in late March with the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on the line. It’s more hockey at the REA and I’m here for it. 
 

The Covid frozen faceoff was electric and that was in front of 5-6k fans. 

[nodakgirl93]

Does the 3 week tournament mean there will be 1 week fewer of non conference games? Why not just do the 3 game championship weekend at the remaining highest seed. 

[cberkas]

51 minutes ago, nodakgirl93 said:

Does the 3 week tournament mean there will be 1 week fewer of non conference games? Why not just do the 3 game championship weekend at the remaining highest seed. 

Not really, Minnesota plays 34 games where North Dakota plays 36. UND did get the extra games from the Ice Breaker this year. Looked at days off between the two and looks about the same. Non-conference games were 10-UM vs 12-UND, again Ice Breaker is the two extra games. Looked at a couple CCHA teams and they play 8 non-conference games others played 10 (Augustana is considered NC). Atlantic Hockey plays 8 to 10 non-conference games from the few I checked. 
 

I’d say with the conference adding Arizona State and being at 9 members like the CCHA the non-conference games will be at 8 maybe 10. Now UND likes to take advantage of the Hall of Fame game, Ice Breaker, and Alaska exemption (for some reason I thought I saw the Alaska exemption was gone because they are both independent) to get an extra 2 to 4 games. NCHC could also go with one less bye week or more holiday tournaments come back to pick up extra 2 games non-conference. 

[farce poobah]

2 hours ago, nodakgirl93 said:

Does the 3 week tournament mean there will be 1 week fewer of non conference games? Why not just do the 3 game championship weekend at the remaining highest seed. 

The regular season will still be 34 games, the NCAA limit, except for seasons where a team qualifies for additional games (games in Alaska, US Hockey Hall of Fame Game, Icebreaker).

As to the championship format, I don't think any team has the locker rooms required for a tournament like that to be held at one site.  In fact, I think some venues have only two locker rooms (Lawson to be sure) so even Vindy's idea of 4-team tournaments may not be feasible for facilities reasons.

1 hour ago, cberkas said:

Not really, Minnesota plays 34 games where North Dakota plays 36. UND did get the extra games from the Ice Breaker this year. Looked at days off between the two and looks about the same. Non-conference games were 10-UM vs 12-UND, again Ice Breaker is the two extra games. Looked at a couple CCHA teams and they play 8 non-conference games others played 10 (Augustana is considered NC). Atlantic Hockey plays 8 to 10 non-conference games from the few I checked. 
 

I’d say with the conference adding Arizona State and being at 9 members like the CCHA the non-conference games will be at 8 maybe 10. Now UND likes to take advantage of the Hall of Fame game, Ice Breaker, and Alaska exemption (for some reason I thought I saw the Alaska exemption was gone because they are both independent) to get an extra 2 to 4 games. NCHC could also go with one less bye week or more holiday tournaments come back to pick up extra 2 games non-conference. 

NCHC conference regular season will stay at 24 games.  The old WCHA 28-game conference schedule was a huge dissatisfier (among many items) that led to the departures from WCHA.  The 28 game conference season led to lower conference RPI's and fewer teams in NCAA's.  Switching to 24 conference games has been a big reason why NCHC has regularly gotten more teams into NCAA's.  

That leaves 10 nonconference games most seasons (and up to 12 with the exceptions above). 

https://nchchockey.com/news/2023/7/5/mens-ice-hockey-arizona-state-to-join-nchc-starting-in-2024-2025-season.aspx

[Frozen4sioux]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:48 PM, CMSioux said:

Those who say they are "scared for their safety" usually have a political agenda and haven't been in a city that has more than one gas station in years.  

I know right!

I mean it's not like there's some in depth documentary you can watch called "The Fall of Reynolds" or anything. 

Not sure I heard about that Gas station attendant in Manvel impaled and beat to death with a golf club.

Wait........

 

 

And St. Paul is a smoldering storm of crap ready to break out of its shoddily held together cage of social welfare.  

Could not pay me enough to spend 1 hour or 1 dollar in either of theses craphole places anymore.

No thanks. Good move NCHC.

[Goon]

8 hours ago, nodakgirl93 said:

Does the 3 week tournament mean there will be 1 week fewer of non conference games? Why not just do the 3 game championship weekend at the remaining highest seed. 

I would guess that it means one less bye week. 

[nodak651]

17.14.5.3 Annual Exemptions. The maximum number of ice hockey contests shall exclude the following: (Adopted: 1/16/93, 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 9/6/00, 2/24/03, 11/22/04, 1/14/08, 4/25/18, 1/22/20, 5/19/22 effective 8/1/22)

(a) Conference Championship. Competition in one conference championship tournament in ice hockey (or the tournament used to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship);

(b) Conference Playoff. Competition involving member institutions that tie for a conference championship. Such teams may participate in a single-elimination playoff to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship without the game(s) being counted as a postseason tournament;

(c) NCAA Championship Play-In Competition. Competition in play-in contests conducted before NCAA championships;

(d) Season-Ending Event. Competition in one season-ending event (e.g., NCAA championship). A season-ending event involves competition after the end of the regular season between teams that are not identified until the close of the regular season;

(e) Alumni Game. One ice hockey contest each year against an alumni team of the institution;

(f) Foreign Team in the United States. One ice hockey contest each year with a foreign opponent in the United States;

(g) Hall of Fame Game. The one ice hockey game between two Division I intercollegiate teams conducted by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame;

(h) U.S. Olympic or Paralympic Team. One ice hockey contest each year against the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic ice hockey team during that team's training for participation in the Winter Olympics;

(i) Hawaii or Alaska. Any games played in Hawaii or Alaska, respectively, against an active Division I member institution located in Hawaii or Alaska, by a member located outside the area in question;

(j) Fundraising Activity. Any ice hockey activities in which student-athletes from more than one of the institution's athletics teams participate with and against alumni and friends of the institution, the purpose of which is to raise funds for the benefit of the institution's athletics or other programs, provided the student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of their participation (see Bylaw 12.5.1.1);

(k) Celebrity Sports Activity. Competition involving a limit of two student-athletes from a member institution's ice hockey team who participate in local celebrity ice hockey activities conducted for the purpose of raising funds for charitable organizations, provided:

(1) The student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of the participation;

(2) The involvement of the student-athletes has the approval of the institution's athletics director; and

(3) The activity takes place within a 30-mile radius of the institution's main campus.

(l) U.S. National Team. One game played against any team as selected and designated by the appropriate national governing body for ice hockey as a U.S. national team (e.g., "Under-21" U.S. national team); and

(m) Hockey Commissioners Association/Ice Breaker Tournaments. Competition in the men's or women's Ice Breaker Tournament sponsored by the Hockey Commissioners Association.

(n) Scrimmage/Exhibition Contest. One ice hockey scrimmage or exhibition contest each year against outside competition.

17.14.5.4 Once-in-Four-Years Exemption -- Foreign Tour. An institution may exempt the contests played on a foreign tour, provided the tour is conducted by the member institution in accordance with the procedures set forth in Bylaw 17.32. (Adopted: 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 4/26/07 effective 8/1/07)

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

46 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

17.14.5.3 Annual Exemptions. The maximum number of ice hockey contests shall exclude the following: (Adopted: 1/16/93, 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 9/6/00, 2/24/03, 11/22/04, 1/14/08, 4/25/18, 1/22/20, 5/19/22 effective 8/1/22)

(a) Conference Championship. Competition in one conference championship tournament in ice hockey (or the tournament used to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship);

(b) Conference Playoff. Competition involving member institutions that tie for a conference championship. Such teams may participate in a single-elimination playoff to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship without the game(s) being counted as a postseason tournament;

(c) NCAA Championship Play-In Competition. Competition in play-in contests conducted before NCAA championships;

(d) Season-Ending Event. Competition in one season-ending event (e.g., NCAA championship). A season-ending event involves competition after the end of the regular season between teams that are not identified until the close of the regular season;

(e) Alumni Game. One ice hockey contest each year against an alumni team of the institution;

(f) Foreign Team in the United States. One ice hockey contest each year with a foreign opponent in the United States;

(g) Hall of Fame Game. The one ice hockey game between two Division I intercollegiate teams conducted by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame;

(h) U.S. Olympic or Paralympic Team. One ice hockey contest each year against the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic ice hockey team during that team's training for participation in the Winter Olympics;

(i) Hawaii or Alaska. Any games played in Hawaii or Alaska, respectively, against an active Division I member institution located in Hawaii or Alaska, by a member located outside the area in question;

(j) Fundraising Activity. Any ice hockey activities in which student-athletes from more than one of the institution's athletics teams participate with and against alumni and friends of the institution, the purpose of which is to raise funds for the benefit of the institution's athletics or other programs, provided the student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of their participation (see Bylaw 12.5.1.1);

(k) Celebrity Sports Activity. Competition involving a limit of two student-athletes from a member institution's ice hockey team who participate in local celebrity ice hockey activities conducted for the purpose of raising funds for charitable organizations, provided:

(1) The student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of the participation;

(2) The involvement of the student-athletes has the approval of the institution's athletics director; and

(3) The activity takes place within a 30-mile radius of the institution's main campus.

(l) U.S. National Team. One game played against any team as selected and designated by the appropriate national governing body for ice hockey as a U.S. national team (e.g., "Under-21" U.S. national team); and

(m) Hockey Commissioners Association/Ice Breaker Tournaments. Competition in the men's or women's Ice Breaker Tournament sponsored by the Hockey Commissioners Association.

(n) Scrimmage/Exhibition Contest. One ice hockey scrimmage or exhibition contest each year against outside competition.

17.14.5.4 Once-in-Four-Years Exemption -- Foreign Tour. An institution may exempt the contests played on a foreign tour, provided the tour is conducted by the member institution in accordance with the procedures set forth in Bylaw 17.32. (Adopted: 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 4/26/07 effective 8/1/07)

An alumni game over all star weekend would be fun! Might not work with NCHC conference scheduling though.